Many prospective buyers of new homes now prefer their house to have the appearance of a thatched English cottage. In order to impart this appearance, the roofs of these homes must have a thatched appearance. These roofs must have gently rolling contours which are formed by curved or bent wood shingles.
Certain prior art devices have been developed for bending wood, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,438,349, which shows an apparatus for bending corkwood or the like. In this patent, the wood is first compressed, then placed in a shaping mold, and water is thereafter added to cause the wood to expand into the shape of the mold.
In U.S. Pat. No. 360,848, wood panels are bent to form a part of a violin case by a mold comprised of metal clamps, which engage a flat end and adjacent edge portions of a wooden blank. The central portion of the panel is engaged between an elastic strap and a central mold element having a convex upper surface.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,346,161 and 2,017,037 also disclose methods and devices for bending wood panels. However, none of these patents disclose the method of employing cooperating concavo-convex shaping members for shaping continuously curved roofing shingles.